AFTER HITTING SEVEN cities in 11 days, the UFC 189 World Tour came to a climatic close in Dublin on Tuesday evening.
3,000 fans showed up to the Convention Centre to cheer on hometown hero Conor McGregor and berate featherweight champion Jose Aldo ahead of their title fight in Las Vegas on 11 July.
It has been a hectic fortnight for both fighters — who visited Rio De Janeiro, Las Vegas, LA, Boston, New York, Toronto and London before the final leg in Ireland — and the pair looked noticeably drained during their jam-packed media scrums earlier in the day.
Aldo is unbeaten in the UFC and on an 18-fight winning streak but the ever-confident McGregor believes he has nothing to fear and predicts he will end the bout inside four minutes.
“I think I will be too strong and powerful for him,” McGregor said. “Everyone he has fought before has been afraid. He has made a career out of beating short, stocky American wrestlers who are not too good on their feet. I’m going to go straight for him and put him away.
“He has enjoyed his time intimidating them but now he has shrunk. Now he is keeping quiet.
“I’ve heard a lot about his leg kicks but I think they are overrated. He has got a good low right kick but he cannot kick high. The stance change is going to be a factor because I’m a southpaw leading with my right foot and he is an orthodox leading with his left foot.
“I have won fights before where my opponent throws a heavy right kick, I check it and the foot snaps. It shatters. My size and range will help me.
He’s sloppy. He has his basics down, his straight kicks and his low kick but after that he goes wild. He opens up and I find his shot selection is weak.
“If he tries to come in on the pocket rushed against me, I will tip him anywhere across the temple and he goes down. That’s what I feel will happen. We will exchange one or two, he will wobble. He will get loose and wild and he will go down.
“I said that he will be done within four minutes,” he added. “He will be out on his feet in the first round and it will be a formality after that. How long his chin holds up after that is up to him. He has been through many wars in his career.
“Every single fight he comes out busted up so there is only so much the brain and the chin can take before you get hit by someone like me and it gives. The fight will be wrapped up within four minutes of the first round.”
With the tour finishing up tonight, the challenger is planning to relocate to the west coast of America with a number of his SBG team-mates and coach John Kavanagh 10 weeks out from the fight. They will set up camp in LA before moving to Vegas for the final month.
And the Dubliner admits that he is glad to put media duties to one side and concentrate on training and cutting weight for the biggest fight of his life.
“The fact that we did this tour right now is great,” he said. “For the Boston fight, we did the tour a week before the fight. Cutting weight is the real struggle for me so to have to do all those media obligations along with it was hard.
“This time we are getting it out of the way 15 weeks out. The hype is built so now I go and prepare.”
